Sale 2455 - Printed & Manuscript Americana, September 28, 2017

“WEWENT UPSTAIRSTO SEETHE PRESIDENT” 276 c   (TRAVEL.) Roberts, Austin James. Diary of a Massachusetts boy’s visit to Washington. [72] manuscript pages. 12mo, original limp calf, minor wear; minimal damp- staining, generally clean and legible; signed inside front cover. Vp, 9 November 1843 to 9 May 1844 [400/600] Austin James Roberts (1828-after 1910) was born in England and came to the United States with his father James A. Roberts (1789-1872), a minister, in 1832. Most of the diary is written in Mid- dleborough, MA, but the most interesting portion describes a family visit to the mid-Atlantic states from 20 March to 17 April. He describes three days in NewYork City, 30 March to 1 April, then goes to Norfolk,VA, where he visits the USS Pennsylvania (the nation’s largest sailing warship) and attends a slave auction:“I saw two slaves put up at auction, one with 3 children sold for 555$, the other alone 125$” (6 April). On 13 April, the family met the president at theWhite House:“Went to the Presi- dent’s house.Went into the east room & an oval one, both splendidly furnished, then we went upstairs to see the President JohnTyler. Mr. Smith introduced us to him. He shook hands very cordially & he is a pleasant man indeed.The house is a fine stone one with fine gardens.” 277 c   (TRAVEL.) Stearns, Helen J. Diary of a New York woman’s eventful visit to Washington. [32] manuscript diary pages, plus 14 pages of manuscript memoranda.Thin 8vo, 7 1 / 4 x 2 3 / 4 inches, original calf, minor wear; minor dampstaining, very irregular entries but quite extensive for the Washington trip, handwriting small but tidy, minor dampstaining. Vp, 2 February to 30 October 1870 [400/600] Helen Josephine Dike Stearns (1834-1915) was the wife of a prosperous wool merchant, and had recently moved from Brooklyn to Nanuet, north of the city. The diary begins with a February visit to Providence, RI where she had lived until her marriage. Most of the diary is devoted to her late April visit to Washington. She attended a session of Congress on 18 April. “Went to President’s wife’s reception, shook hands with Grant & Mrs. G. She is a very common looking woman, stout, middle sized, shld think she might be Irish” (19 April, recorded on 20 February). She describes a visit to Mount Vernon at length on 22 April (carried over to 16 January), accompanied by the wife of Senator Pomeroy of Kansas, followed by dinner at the Pomeroys’ house where she met several other congress- men. The next day, she met Representative James Brooks of New York: “In the House, a ___, but in private life delightful, a splendid looking man” (23 April). On Sunday, she “attended colored church, but a white minister preached. A handsome lot of girls & children & really elegant looking ladies who are so light I cld barely believe there were of African origin” (24 April). She does not sign the diary, but mentions her late father Albyn Valentine Dike on 27 October and her newborn son Albyn Valentine Stearns on 7 and 27 October. 278 c   (WAR OF 1812.) Clark, Isaac. Letter concerning the confirmation of the 11th Infantry’s regimental staff. Autograph Letter Signed as colonel to paymaster Robert Brent in Washington. One page, 10 x 8 inches, plus integral address leaf with faint inked Burlington postmark stamp, on one folding sheet; seal tear on address leaf, minor wear at folds. Burlington,VT, 14 August 1812 [300/400] Isaac Clark (1742-1822) was a RevolutionaryWar veteran inVermont, and was 70 years of age when he took command of the 11th United States Infantry at the outset of the War of 1812. Composed entirely of Vermont and New Hampshire troops, the regiment would participate in several battles and also patrolled Vermont’s northern border. Clark wrote this letter before the regiment was deployed: “I rec’d directions from the inspector gen’l to appoint the staff of my regiment, which I did on 17th of April last. . . . I named Lieut.Walter Sheldon, who has considered himself as paymaster of the regiment ever since. . . . He is a gentleman of undoubted veracity, he has the benefit of a coleget education. I wish, sir, he may be confirmed in the apointment.” Provenance: sold by Scott J. Winslow to collector Milton R. Slater, June 2006.